In striking contrast to the skill of resisting impulse, today the ability to act on impulse is celebrated as the proof of freedom. (I do what I want when I want the way I want) But is this liberating or are we letting ourselves become prisoners of success? Too many people are spending money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't need, to impress people they don't like. Let's see how this prison of success works:
The consumer industry produces products that we don't really need.
The marketing industry brings these products to us through slick showrooms and supermarkets.
The advertising industry by its aggressive TV commercials, roadside billboards and the like, depicts these products as lifestyle symbols, vital for expanding our prestige.
The banking industry lures us on with the assurances that lack of money need not stop us from fulfilling our desires.
Captivated by the spell of advertising, a lot of people purchase new clothes, mobiles, cars and houses just because these are portrayed as fashionable, and discard their old possessions even if they are still usable. This power of advertising to fool people is highlighted in a quote, "You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough".
Incited by advertisements to stay in tune with the latest fashion, a great many people take large loans that bind them to hard work for years. Along with that is the mental burden caused by the anxiety of repayments, which doesn't allow one to enjoy peacefully the very comforts for which the loans were taken.
Why should we become "prisoners of success" when we can succeed without being carried away by social trends. It is better to decrease our desires and be satisfied with what we have than to increase our desires and be dissatisfied. This choice will become much easier when we understand the power of saying no and simplifying our lifestyles.
The power to say no to ourselves is our shield, our defence, which enables us to choose our own lifestyle. It requires a sharp, sophisticated intelligence to see through the superficiality of showiness and to appreciate the beauty of simplicity.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication".
"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to leave alone".